River Piking, 26 June 2011

Armed with a selection of deadbaits, i decided to go to the river this morning. However, despite trying mackerel, sardine & lamprey and various tempting swims, all i got was the odd dropped run. It was so slow going, i decided i would try my hand at wildlife photography!

Back to the fishing, i brought in my deadbait, moved swim again, and hooked the smelt for wobbling, a tactic i have seldom tried and to date without success. Second cast in, and a small jack of 4 1/2lb struck under my rod tip, very exciting in the clear water! After a short tussle, with a few leaps, this was the result...

Following this, i decided to call it a day. I nice morning, by a glorious river!

Two stretches of river, two pike - 19/06/11

With the rivers now in full swing, i eagerly got out fishing today with pike in mind. The first session was on the morning, i took my nephew out to see if he could catch a couple, which he did, but i thought it would be rude not to put a smelt deadbait out as well. This quickly resulted in this pike of 6 or 7 lb...

Later on, i got out to another stretch of the river, again with pike in mind. The swim was overgrown and out of the way (perfect)...

Within minutes i had a run, again on smelt, which I quickly hit. This fish fought like a demon, as you expect from summer pike. Once landed, and at 10lb 1oz i was chuffed to get my first double of the season. Hopefully one of many....